


Please let me give you the world

by theflyinganonymouse



Series: These hands not fit for holding [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: A bit of swearing, A/B/O, Angst, Difficult Pregnancy, Fluff, Kid!Sehun, M/M, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Smut, and chanyeol being clueless, and minseok not using his wordsd, because i suddenly write smut???, but they get through it, kid!kyungsoo, tiniest amount of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 06:46:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9423125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theflyinganonymouse/pseuds/theflyinganonymouse
Summary: It’s the day after the twins’ fifth birthday that they find out Minseok is pregnant.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This took me forever to write and I am so sorry. I have about ten exo fics on the go... all but two of them are xiuyeol but I just can't seem to find the energy to finish anything/work is slowly destroying my will to live. Please bully me into finishing something. I'm on tumblr hrhqueencoco.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this!

It’s the day after the twins’ fifth birthday that they find out Minseok is pregnant.

Chanyeol can hardly contain his joy. They hadn’t been trying for a baby but they hadn’t been taking the precautions they could have been either and Chanyeol is over the moon. He can’t help the grin that lights up his face whenever he sees Minseok and thinks of the little life growing inside him, the little life they have created.

He spends his days at work daydreaming about decorating the nursery – a soft lilac if it’s a girl and pale green if it’s a boy – and how they’re going to break the news to Kyungsoo and Sehun. He can imagine their bright smiles when they find out that they’re going to get a little brother or sister, he can imagine the joy on their faces when they hold the new baby for the first time.

He wonders who the baby will look like. If he or she will have Minseok’s eyes and Chanyeol’s ears, if they will sleep with their eyes open like Chanyeol or if they will be as obsessed with order as Minseok.

He can’t wait to tell their friends the happy news and it kills him to keep it from them. He just wants to scream to the world how happy and excited he is but Minseok doesn’t want anyone to know, not until they’re through those first few risky months.

They end up having to tell Joonmyun, however, when Minseok is only eight weeks pregnant. His morning sickness is so bad that Minseok struggles to keep down meals for days at a time and can’t be in the same room as food without feeling sick. He has to take a couple of days off work and work from home for a few days more so they have to tell Joonmyun the truth.

Joonmyun is overjoyed for them, even if he is a bit put out that he’s going to be without his PA while Minseok is off on leave, and he keeps as close of an eye on Minseok as Chanyeol does when he’s in the office.

They tell the twins once they reach the twelve week mark. As expected, both boys are overjoyed and they run around and scream and shout about how they’re going to get a little brother. Minseok tries to tell them that they might get a little sister instead but they don’t pay any attention to him. Chanyeol scoops them both up into his arms and they collapse onto the sofa next to Minseok, a big giggling mass.

“You’ve got to keep it a secret.” Minseok tells them once they’ve settled down, trying to look stern. “You know your uncles and Aunt Soojung are coming over for dinner in an hour. We want to surprise them so you’ll need to be very careful about what you say, okay?”

“We promise.” Kyungsoo says and he looks far too solemn for someone his age until Chanyeol begins to tickle him and his whole face lights up.

It’s cramped around their dining table, clearly not being big enough for everyone and their bondmates as well as the highchair for Yifan and Zitao’s baby daughter, but they make it work. Chanyeol ends up having to prepare most of the food and he’s never been more thankful for Kyungsoo’s interest in cooking for forcing him to learn his way around the kitchen. Minseok does what he can but he spends more time knelt in front of the toilet than he does cooking.

When their guests start to arrive there are comments over Minseok looking pale and sick but he waves them off with a smile and tells them not to worry. Chanyeol is beaming and Minseok has to tail Sehun to make sure he doesn’t spill the news prematurely. Kyungsoo ‘helps’ in the kitchen but ends up making more of a mess than Chanyeol is managing on his own. Joonmyun comes to their ‘rescue’ and by the time the food is ready the kitchen is a disaster zone.

Chanyeol and Minseok hand out the appetisers and Kyungsoo and Sehun smother giggles behind their hands at the looks of confusion on the faces of those around them.

“Is this meant to be a joke?” Baekhyun asks, clearly unimpressed, because the portions are tiny.

Chanyeol is vibrating with excitement and Minseok’s cheeks are flushed pink.

“Can we tell them, daddy?” Kyungsoo asks, his eyes wide.

“I want to tell them.” Sehun pouts. “Daddy, papa, I want to be the one to tell them about the baby!”

“Baby?” Jongdae repeats.

Sehun nods his head vigorously while Kyungsoo shoots him a glare, “yep! Daddy has a baby in his tummy.”

“Oh, wow! Minseok!” Zitao nearly trips over his own feet in his rush to get around the table to pull Minseok into a hug as the others call their congratulations. “When are you due?”

“The beginning of May.” Minseok answers shooting Chanyeol a warm smile.

“So, it was meant to be a joke?” Baekhyun asks as he picks at his food with his fork.

“It wasn’t my idea.” Chanyeol holds his hands up.

“But I bet you encouraged him.” Jongin says with a roll of his eyes.

“It was a good idea.” Minseok defends himself. “Baby portions for a baby announcement. Joonmyun liked it.”

That sparks a round of groans from those gathered around the table.

“There is nothing wrong with my sense of humour.” Joonmyun says. “It was funny.”

“But I’m starving.” Baekhyun complains. “You better have some real food prepared.”

“Have you thought of names?” Yixing asks.

“I still have my lists from when I was pregnant with Jiao.” Zitao tells him and he’s smiling so wide Chanyeol’s a little worried that his face might split in two. “Do you want to borrow them?”

“Maybe you should lend them to Soojung and me first.” Jongin says and his words would be almost nonchalant but for the grin lighting up his face. “Seeing as though our baby is due a couple of weeks before Chanyeol and Minseok’s.”

“What?!” Chanyeol nearly shouts as the table explodes into noise once more. “That’s amazing!”

“There’s going to be another baby?” Sehun asks, his small face crumpled in confusion.

Kyungsoo nods, “Uncle Jongin and Aunt Soojung are having a baby, too! I hope it’s a little boy so we can have someone else to play with.”

“What’s wrong with playing with Jiao?” Yifan asks but the small smile on his face tells Chanyeol he already knows the answer.

“She’s a girl.” Kyungsoo says with a roll of his eyes. “And girls are yucky, Uncle Yifan.”

“Kyungsoo, that’s not very nice.” Minseok scolds him, rubbing at his stomach with a small frown.

“Okay, so this is all well and good.” Baekhyun cuts in. “But I am literally dying of starvation. Where’s the real food?”

Jongdae and Yixing help Chanyeol bring the food out from the kitchen while Minseok disappears into the bathroom to be sick once more.

“Do you want me to go check on Minseok?” Jongdae asks once all their plates are full and the majority of them have started to eat.

“No, it’s okay. He’s fine.” Chanyeol says as he cuts up Kyungsoo’s dinner. “Morning sickness isn’t just confined to the mornings, apparently. He’s been getting it really bad.”

“I’ve hardly been sick at all.” Soojung says with a sympathetic frown and Chanyeol doesn’t think he’s ever seen her look so radiant. “It’s funny how different it is for everyone. I guess I’ve just been lucky so far.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way.” Jongin takes her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

Conversation flows easily and Minseok retakes his seat at the table when they’re just about ready to start clearing up. He picks at his dinner while everyone else makes short work of their dessert and Chanyeol makes sure to send him encouraging smiles whenever their eyes meet.

They move into the lounge once everyone is finished and the omegas of the group sit together and talk pregnancy and babies, Zitao bouncing Jiao on his knee, while the rest of them watch television and try to keep the twins occupied.

It ends up being a late night and Chanyeol has to carry the twins to bed after everyone has left. Kyungsoo wakes up long enough to change into his pyjamas but Minseok has to get Sehun ready for bed. Chanyeol helps as best as he can but mostly just gets in the way, causing Minseok to roll his eyes and bat his hands out of the way.

Minseok clings once they’re settled in bed and Chanyeol falls asleep with the smell of Minseok’s hair filling his nose and a smile on his lips.

He blinks awake sometime later, yawning and stretching and not really understanding why he’s awake, and he reaches out for Minseok only to come up empty. He frowns when he feels a tug on the bond and he knows then without any doubt that it’s that what had woken him in the first place.

He swings his legs over the edge of the bed just at the tugging sensation comes again. This time, however, there’s the echo of pain and worry bubbles in the pit of Chanyeol’s stomach. He pulls himself to his feet and heads straight for the ensuite, knowing Minseok is in there from the light spilling out from under the closed door.

“Minseok?” He asks as he knocks on the door. “Am I okay to come in?”

He hears a quiet whimper from the other side and that answers the question for him. He pushes the door open expecting to see Minseok hunched over the toilet with vomit on his lips and tears running down his cheeks. Instead he’s greeted with the sight of his bondmate clinging to the counter with white knuckles and bright red blood saturating the pale grey of his pyjama bottoms and pooling on the floor.

Minseok turns to look at him and Chanyeol sees the pain on his face but he doesn’t understand- he doesn’t know what’s happening.

“What’s wrong?” Chanyeol asks as he steps further into the room.

“The baby.” Minseok tells him, weakly. “Call Jongdae and Yixing, get them to come watch the boys. We need to go to the hospital.”

“I don’t understand.” Chanyeol frowns. “Is the baby okay?”

 Minseok won’t meet his eyes and Chanyeol _knows_. Tears well in his eyes and he sobs down the phone to Jongdae and then all the way to the hospital while Minseok sits stony-faced and dry-eyed in the passenger seat. They both know it’s already too late.

The next couple of weeks pass in a haze.

Chanyeol can’t think, doesn’t know what to do with himself, he feels so empty and hurt and lost, so he just goes through the motions. He gets up early every morning and goes to work. He throws himself into new projects to distract himself from the hollowness in his chest and he works until he’s too exhausted to think. He goes home and eats the dinners Minseok leaves in the microwave before crawling into bed beside his bondmate and trying to force himself to sleep.

He feels like an empty shell, like he’s forcing himself through the days around without purpose, and he just doesn’t know how life is ever going to be the same when he can’t even look at Minseok without wanting to cry.

Their friends try to help. They call him and message him and try to encourage him to talk but he doesn’t have anything to say to them. He doesn’t know _what_ to say because nothing is going to make the emptiness go away.

He meets Baekhyun for drinks after work the third Friday after _it_ happens. He drinks too much and ends up crying into Baekhyun’s shoulder in the cab home, finally feeling _something_. The alcohol has caused cracks in his defences and he just hurts _so much_. He thinks he might have preferred being numb.

Minseok is sat on the steps leading up to the porch when the cab pulls up in front of the house, huddled into the oversized green dressing gown Chanyeol had bought him last Christmas, and that just makes Chanyeol cry harder.

“I can’t.” He tells Baekhyun. “I can’t talk to him.”

“Yes, you can.” Baekhyun says as he grabs Chanyeol’s hands and tries to pull him from the backseat of the cab. “He’s your bondmate, Yeol. You have to talk to him.”

“I can’t.” Chanyeol repeats. “It hurts too much. I can’t even look at him.”

He blinks and Minseok is there helping Baekhyun pull him upright. His legs aren’t quite working so the two of them have to help him into the house, taking most of his weight as he trips and stumbles, and they set him on the sofa before sharing words that are too quiet and quick for Chanyeol to make out in his inebriated state.

“Behave yourself, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun says before he disappears and he’s left with just Minseok.

Minseok crouches on the floor in front of him and forces him to drink from the glass of water in his hands, “you’re going to have such a bad hangover tomorrow if you don’t drink enough water now.”

“I don’t care.” Chanyeol mumbles but he drinks obediently.

“You should.” Minseok says and he brushes Chanyeol’s hair from his eyes. “You should care.”

“Why?” Chanyeol asks and the tears start to fall once more. “There isn’t any point.”

“There is.” Minseok tells him, his voice soft. “There’s Kyungsoo and Sehun. They miss their papa so much, they’ve not seen you since... Since that dinner. They miss you so much.”

“But there’s no baby.” Chanyeol sobs.

“No.” Minseok agrees and if Chanyeol wasn’t so drunk he might have heard the exhaustion and pain in his voice. “There’s no baby.”

“Why? Fuck, Minseok, I was so excited and so in love with him before he even got here. He was all I could think about all day at work and every time I saw you and now it just hurts so, so much. I loved him so much, I just wanted to hold him in my arms and do everything I could to keep him safe and make him happy and now- now there’s nothing.” Chanyeol rambles as he gasps for breath. “I loved him and there’s nothing to even show he existed except how much it hurts.”

“I know.” Minseok says and he pulls Chanyeol into a hug and lets the alpha sob into his shoulder. “I know and I’m so sorry, Chanyeol. I loved him, too.”

Chanyeol falls asleep against Minseok’s shoulder and wakes late the next morning feeling sick and empty, his whole body aching from his night on the sofa.

There’s a note on the coffee table next to a tall glass of water and some painkillers but he doesn’t read it until after he’s downed the water and the pills. His heart drops at the words written on the scrap of paper and he lets himself breakdown once more, knowing the house is empty.

Once the tears are finished he stumbles into the kitchen and drinks a couple more glasses of water. They help him feel a bit more human but it’s the shower that follows that really wakes him up. He shaves and dresses in jeans and the polo t-shirt Minseok always tells him he looks good in and then sits on the bottom step and watches the front door, waiting for Minseok and the boys to return from their brunch date with Jongdae and Yixing.

He sits there long enough for his ass to grow numb but he doesn’t dare move.

He gets arms full of excited five year olds within seconds of the front door opening. He kisses every inch of skin he can get his lips on and the boys shriek with laughter and try to wriggle from his grasp.

“You’re so cold!” He says and that prompts them to try and stick their cold hands under his t-shirt. “When did my sons get replaced by snowmen?”

“We’re not snowmen, papa!” Kyungsoo tells him as he ducks out from under Chanyeol’s arm. “There’s no snow outside.”

Sehun crawls onto his lap and rubs his cold nose against Chanyeol’s cheek, “where have you been, papa? I’ve missed you.”

Chanyeol looks up and he sees Minseok standing by the door. Their eyes meet and Chanyeol feels shame well in his chest because Minseok looks so tired and rundown and Chanyeol hasn’t even noticed.

“I know, I’ve missed you, too.” Chanyeol tells him. “But papa’s been very busy with work.”

“The baby died.” Sehun says without any kind of preamble. “Did you know?”

“Yes.” Chanyeol swallows hard and tries to blink away his tears. “I know.”

“Is that why you haven’t been home?” Kyungsoo asks and he snuggles into Chanyeol’s side. “Because you’re sad?”

“Papa has been very sad.” Chanyeol agrees. “But that’s not why he hasn’t been home. Papa has been working lots and lots.”

“Come on, guys, shoes and coats off.” Minseok says.

“Can I play with the red truck?” Sehun asks, slipping off Chanyeol’s lap.

“It’s my turn.” Kyungsoo argues and he follows his brother over to the door. “It’s my turn, isn’t it, daddy? Sehun played with it lots yesterday.”

There’s a race to pull off their coats and shoes and Minseok chides them when they throw their things on the floor. They ignore him and sprint towards the den, arguing the whole way. Chanyeol wonders how long it will be until there are tears.

Minseok doesn’t look at him as he approaches, his shoulders hunched as he picks up the boys’ coats from the floor.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be here when we got back.” Minseok mumbles and Chanyeol thinks his heart might break.  

“I’m sorry.” Chanyeol says. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Minseok leans into him, rests his head against his chest, and Chanyeol wraps his arms around him and presses kisses into his hair.

“We can try again.” Minseok tells him.

They do.

It takes a lot less attempts than Chanyeol expects for Minseok to fall pregnant again but it doesn’t last long. Within days of finding out the happy news, Minseok miscarries. It doesn’t hurt as much as it had the first time but Chanyeol still cries and mourns what could have been.

Their third pregnancy ends in the same way as the previous two. Soojung is close to her due date when it happens and Chanyeol finds it hard to look at her without thinking about what could have been. He wonders if Minseok’s bump would have been as big as hers, if he would have demanded foot rubs and back massages like she does, if he would have glowed as brightly as she does.

Jongin and Soojung have a son.

A beautiful, healthy boy weighing an exact 7lbs and Chanyeol can’t look at him without tears pooling in his eyes. Still, he holds him close and breathes him in and tries to be happy. It becomes easier as time passes, as their own baby’s due date comes and goes, and Chanyeol falls in love with the little boy just like everyone else does.

November comes and Minseok’s smile isn’t as bright as it should be when he tells Chanyeol that he’s pregnant again.

“Maybe this time.” Chanyeol says as he hugs Minseok close and lets the fire of their bond swallow them whole.

“Maybe.” Minseok mumbles into his chest and Chanyeol feels guilty because he’s been so wrapped up in his own grief that he’s not stopped to ask how Minseok is coping.

“I love you.” He says instead of ‘I’m sorry.’

Minseok seems to understand. He pulls Chanyeol closer and whispers, “I love you, too.”

Chanyeol gets a promotion at work the following week which means long days at the office for the rest of the month followed by networking events and the promise of attending client meetings in different cities and countries in the new year.

It’s a brilliant opportunity and there’s a big jump in pay but Chanyeol regrets all the missed evenings at home. He regrets that he can’t be there for Minseok as he struggles once more with dizziness and nausea and two energetic six year olds who don’t understand that their daddy is poorly and that papa doesn’t have the time he used to have to play with them on an evening.

He makes the weekends special for the boys. He takes them out to all the different places they want to go, giving Minseok a break, and spends hours in the kitchen cooking with them and in the den playing with them.

He also makes sure that there’s one night a week where he’s home early from work. On those nights he’ll bring home dinner and they’ll sit around the dining table to eat before snuggling on the sofa and watching a movie.

Chanyeol loves those nights and this one is no exception.

It’s the second Friday in December and there’s snow on the ground as Christmas approaches. Chanyeol’s had a good day at work and he can’t wait to tell Minseok the end results of his latest project, what he thinks it’ll mean in terms of his career, and to see the boys’ faces light up when they realise he’s brought home their favourite meals.

He doesn’t expect to find the twins running riot and the house to be in disarray.

“Why do you have chocolate around your mouth?” He asks Sehun, grabbing him as he tries to run passed and carrying him under his arm into the dining room. “And where are your trousers?”

Sehun squirms in his grasp and he doesn’t sound at all apologetic when he says, “I lost them.”

“You lost them? How did you manage that?” Chanyeol sets Sehun in one of the chairs and puts the bags of food on the dining table.

“I don’t know.” Sehun answers with a shrug. “What’s for dinner?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.” Chanyeol tells him before yelling, “Kyungsoo, dinner time!”

Kyungsoo doesn’t appear until Chanyeol has called him a handful of times and when he arrives in the dining room his face and his hands and his t-shirt are covered in chocolate. Chanyeol bites back a sigh and takes them both into the kitchen to clean them up.

“Where’s daddy?” He asks as he scrubs at the stubborn chocolate stain on Sehun’s chin.

“He said he needed a nap.” Kyungsoo says as he wipes his hands dry on his trousers.

Chanyeol frowns and reaches out for Minseok through their bond, anxiety bubbling in his chest as he realises how little he has felt coming from Minseok in the last few hours. He feels guilty for not noticing but his heart is hurting, too, because he thinks he knows what that means. There’s the echo of pain that he knows Minseok is trying to hide and a gut-wrenching feeling of devastation that makes Chanyeol’s eyes brim with tears.

He knows what that feeling means.

He sets the boys up with their dinner and calls Jongdae as they tuck into their food.

“Would you mind coming and getting the boys?” He asks once they’ve exchanged pleasantries. “Maybe have them stay the night at yours?”

“What’s happened?” Jongdae asks.

“Minseok isn’t very well.” Chanyeol murmurs, not able to keep his voice from trembling.

“Oh, Chanyeol.” Jongdae says, understanding immediately even though they had never told Jongdae that Minseok was expecting in the first place. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be there in ten minutes, okay? Have the boys had dinner?”

“They’re eating it now.” Chanyeol tells him. “I’ll get their bags ready. Thank you, Jongdae.”

Chanyeol makes Kyungsoo and Sehun promise to behave before he trudges up the stairs. He knows he’s being selfish when he thinks about getting the boys’ bags ready first before going to see Minseok, telling himself he just needs a bit of time to get his thoughts together, but he knows he can’t do that to Minseok. Not this time.

He finds Minseok curled up on their bed with a hot water bottle clutched against his stomach and tears and snot running down his flushed cheeks.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles when Chanyeol steps into his line of sight. “God, I’m so sorry, Chanyeol.”    

“It’s okay.” Chanyeol says even if it isn’t. “It’s not your fault.”

But that just makes Minseok sob harder, “of course it is. I know how much you want a baby but I… My body keeps killing them. I just- I’m so sorry, Chanyeol. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Hey,” Chanyeol says and his voice is stern, “don’t talk like that.”

“I’m sorry.” Minseok says again and then his face crumples and he asks a question that makes Chanyeol’s heart break. “Are you- are you mad at me?”

“What? Minseok, how could you think that?” Chanyeol asks. He takes a seat on the edge of the bed and tries to run his fingers through his bondmate’s hair only for Minseok to flinch away. It makes his lungs constrict painfully in his chest because he hasn’t seen Minseok this upset, this insecure, in a long time. “I could never be mad at you because of this. It isn’t your fault. It hurts, it hurts a lot, but I could never be mad at you. Not for this, not when I know how much it hurts you.”

“I want to give you your own baby.” Minseok sobs. “I want to make you happy.”

“I am happy.” Chanyeol tells him and he tries to put as much conviction into his voice as he can. He wants Minseok to believe him even if it’s not the whole truth. “Every morning I wake up with you by my side- how could I not be happy? I already have you and the boys. I love all of you so much and nothing is going to change that. Another kid, that would… I want that with you, of course I do, I would love to have my own baby. But _this_ \- it’s hurting you so badly and I can’t keep putting you through that. Not when what we have already is enough.”

“What do you mean?” Minseok asks and he winces as he shifts on the bed, moves further from Chanyeol’s reach.

“I don’t think we should try again.” Chanyeol says even if it hurts. “I don’t want you to go through this again, I can’t keep seeing you in so much pain. It’s not worth it.”

“We have to.” Minseok tells him and his voice breaks. “Just once more, please. I need- I want to give you your own baby. Please, Chanyeol. I don’t want to give up yet.”

Chanyeol buries his head in his hands and tugs at his hair, fighting back tears of his own.

“Please.” Minseok says again.

Chanyeol wants to put his foot down and tell Minseok that he’s not changing his mind but he so desperately wants his own child.

“Once more.” He says, his heart heavy. “But that’s it.”

They wait until the new year to try again but it takes them almost the whole year to conceive. Chanyeol is almost convinced it’s never going to happen but Minseok gets sick at the beginning of October and the positive pregnancy test tells them why.

They don’t tell anyone and they don’t really talk about it, not even with each other, for fear of jinxing it. Chanyeol worries, though, because Minseok is vomiting a handful of times each day, even if he tries to hide how bad it really is and how miserable it’s making him, and he’s dropping weight at an alarming rate. Chanyeol takes over the task of preparing meals, even if Kyungsoo and Sehun complain, and Minseok takes to avoiding the kitchen and the dining room at all times.

When the headaches and the dizziness start around week nine they go to the doctor. He tells them Minseok is dehydrated from all the vomiting and he recommends a night in hospital with an IV pumping liquids and all the nutritional supplements he’s been missing out on over the last few week into his body. Chanyeol worries it isn’t going to be enough but he makes sure Minseok spends the night in the hospital anyway.

Joonmyun is overseas on an extended business trip so Minseok is able to work from home for the most part and for that, at least, Chanyeol is glad. Especially with Minseok being so sick. It’s harder with his own job. His manager isn’t very understanding but they eventually come to an agreement that Chanyeol can leave the office mid-afternoon so he can get the boys from school as long as he puts in a few hours during the evening and all his work is completed by the necessary deadlines.

The twelve week mark comes and goes and Chanyeol can see the slight swell of Minseok’s stomach whenever he sees his bondmate without a t-shirt. He presses his hand against Minseok’s belly whenever he can and Minseok, for the most part, indulges him. Chanyeol thinks he needs convincing as much as he does that they’ve made it passed the most dangerous part of the pregnancy, that they might be finally getting their own baby.

They still don’t tell anyone as the weeks fly by but, one by one, they begin to notice.

Joonmyun, of course, is the first but Chanyeol thinks he might not have been if Minseok hadn’t thrown up all over his favourite Gucci loafers. Zitao and Yifan follow shortly afterwards but Chanyeol isn’t there when it happens. From what Minseok’s told him, Zitao had been fussing a little too much about him looking pale and sick and Minseok had had to tell him the reason so he’d stop worrying.

He’s there though when Jongdae and Yixing find out. He is, after all, the one who lets it slip.

It’s Christmas eve and they’re at their favourite child friendly cafe. The twins are playing in the corner with a few other kids their age while the four adults sit around with hot drinks and pastries. There are shopping bags crammed under the table and crowded around their feet and they are worn out from a morning of last minute shopping.

Minseok is pale and exhausted as he nibbles at his croissant and sips at his tea and Chanyeol can’t help but worry. The nausea has hardly let up and the amount of weight Minseok has lost is frightening and Chanyeol fully intends to discuss it with the obstetrician at their check-up in a couple of days’ time.  

 “You should eat more.” Jongdae says around the last bite of his pastry. “You’ve lost a lot of weight recently, hyung.”

“It makes me feel sick.” Minseok mumbles and abandons his croissant in favour of taking a small drink from his cup.

“You should at least try.” Chanyeol says and worry makes the next words slip from his lips. “For the baby’s sake.”

“Baby?” Jongdae repeats.

“Oh, shit.” Chanyeol eyes widen as he realises what he’s said. “Did I say baby? I-.”

“You definitely said baby.” Yixing cuts him off and he gives Minseok a concerned look. “How far along are you, hyung?”

“Twenty weeks.” Minseok tells him, a tentative smile on his face. “We have an appointment in a couple of days to find out whether it’s a boy or a girl.”

Jongdae grins, “that’s amazing news! Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“We weren’t sure…” Chanyeol trails off with a frown. “We didn’t want to jinx it. Not after the last few times.”

“When are you going to start to show?” Jongdae asks. “I can’t wait to see you with a bump. Do you think you’ll get as big as Soojung?”

“I’m not sure.” Minseok shrugs. “I wasn’t really that big with the twins. I’m showing earlier with this one, though.”

He pulls his baggy sweater up to reveal the small bump it had hidden and Jongdae can’t hold back a squeal of delight as he reaches out to touch the swollen flesh. Minseok flinches away from Jongdae’s hands.

“Your hands are cold.” Minseok explains at Jongdae’s wounded look.

“Sorry, sorry!” Jongdae immediately rubs his hands together to get some warmth into his fingers while Yixing tests the temperature of his own hands against Minseok’s cheek.

“You’re okay, Yixing.” Minseok murmurs and he catches Chanyeol’s eye as Jongdae and Yixing coo over his stomach.

Chanyeol can’t help but feel hope bubble in his chest.

This time, it’s going to be okay.

They find out they’re having a girl and Chanyeol breaks down in tears when he sees her on the ultrasound and hears the echo of her heartbeat. She’s healthy, they’re told, if not a little bit small and Minseok is given a special diet plan to help him and the baby try to gain some weight.

The diet does little to help and the nausea is relentless. There are a few more nights in the hospital as the weeks speed past and they are hard on all of them but Minseok especially. He is constantly exhausted and struggles with work and keeping the twins happy while trying to keep himself healthy. Minseok is disappointed that he doesn’t regain any of the weight he’s lost but he doesn’t lose any more either. Chanyeol thinks that’s down to how quickly his bump is starting to grow rather than the diet working. It isn’t too long into the new year before Minseok can’t hide being pregnant anymore.

And Chanyeol loves it. He loves putting his hands on Minseok’s stomach and feeling the little flutters of movement from within. He loves to rest his head on the bump when they’re laying together in bed and tell the baby how much he adores her already and how excited he is to meet her. He loves looking at Minseok and thinking about the perfect little person they’ve created together.

Chanyeol can’t help but smile whenever he’s in Minseok’s presence and their bond sings constantly. He’s so excited about the baby now that they know she’s healthy, that he’s heard her heart beat loud and clear. He babbles on constantly about choosing a name and decorating the nursery and there hasn’t been a week since they found out they were having a girl that he’s not come home with a bag full of tiny pink dresses and sleepsuits at least once.

The twins grow a little sullen at all the attention the baby is getting. Sehun becomes clingier and demands Chanyeol’s attention when he’s home to give it and sulks when not. He throws tantrums and makes life difficult for both Chanyeol and Minseok. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, is just angry all the time. He makes a fuss whenever anyone mentions the baby and glares at the baby bump whenever Minseok wears anything that shows it off too much. Whenever things turn into a shouting match – which happens more and more as the weeks pass – it always ends with Kyungsoo screaming about how much he hates the baby.

Minseok is irritable, both from dealing with the twins and from the hormones that come along with pregnancy, and he snaps at Chanyeol more often than is usual. It’s unnerving for Chanyeol. He can count the amount of times they’ve had any real arguments since they bonded with one hand. Still, he knows they’re going to be okay because they’re going to have a baby and Chanyeol already loves her with his whole heart.

But then they fight one night when Chanyeol stays late at work and Minseok is forced to pick up the boys from school. Chanyeol had called ahead as soon as he’d made the decision to stay without remembering it is that one day a fortnight Minseok forces himself into the office so he can meet with Joonmyun and discuss everything that needs to be planned and prepared for the weeks ahead. Minseok always finds these days especially exhausting, finding it more and more difficult to leave the house as his pregnancy progresses, and Chanyeol usually does everything he can think of to make his evening as relaxing as possible when he gets home.

He finds Minseok in the kitchen loading the dishwasher when he arrives at the house and he doesn’t pay much attention to Minseok jerking away from Chanyeol’s hands when he tries to plant them on his bump. It’s not the first time this week Minseok has pulled away from his touch but he puts it down to hormones and doesn’t take it personally.

“Are the boys in bed?” Chanyeol asks because he’s home later than he’s been in months. Still, he’s in a good mood because he’s managed to finish up one of the big projects he’s been working on since the end of the year before. “I’m going to go kiss them goodnight. Can you heat my dinner up for me? I’m starving, I think I’m going to pass out if I don’t get something to eat soon.”

Minseok nods and this time he lets Chanyeol give his belly a little rub before he leaves the kitchen. Chanyeol’s in such a good mood that he doesn’t notice the way his bondmate tenses at his touch or how the scowl on Minseok’s usually sweet face deepens.

Chanyeol changes out of his suit and uses the bathroom before going into the boys’ room to tuck them in. Sehun gives him a bleary-eyed smile when he kisses his forehead and slips back into sleep before Chanyeol can stand up straight while Kyungsoo doesn’t stir at all. His stomach rumbles as he closes their bedroom door behind himself and he hopes his dinner is ready.

The kitchen is filled with the scent of burning and there’s smoke in the air when he returns. He sprints to the stove to turn off the heat, surprised to find it had been left on the highest setting.

 “What the fuck, Minseok?” Chanyeol snaps because there’s adrenaline pumping through his veins and fear twisting in his stomach. He examines the content of the pan only to find his dinner is beyond salvaging. “Why didn’t you turn the heat down- were you even watching the pan?”

“Yes.” Minseok’s voice is sharp.

“Obviously not.” Chanyeol rolls his eyes as he dumps the pan in the sink. He turns the tap on and there’s a loud hiss and a billow of steam when the water meets the overheated metal. “Unless you were planning on burning the whole house down?”

“At least I was home to-.”

Chanyeol snorts, hardly able to believe Minseok’s pettiness, “is this what this is about? You tried to kill us all because you’re angry I stayed late at work? Christ, Minseok, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You were supposed to get the boys from school!” Minseok is suddenly shouting.

“I get the boys from school every day!” Chanyeol shouts back because the adrenaline hasn’t quite finished flowing and it mixes with the frustration bubbling in his chest. “Like picking up the boys one day is going to kill you. It’s a ten-minute drive from the house!”

“So, what? You resent them?”

“What the-? When did I say that?” Chanyeol looks at Minseok in shock, the omega’s question catching him completely off-guard. “When have I ever given you any kind of indication that I don’t love the boys? That I don’t treat them like my own?”

Minseok crosses his arms across his chest and hunches his shoulders, “you said you’d pick them up! Until the baby gets here, you were supposed to-.”

“What? Minseok, it’s one day!” Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair. “I’ve had to put up with so much shit in the office to make this work for you. My career is important to me and you know that! But I’ve always put you first. Always! Then the one time I do something that’s just for me and you pull this shit? I can’t believe you’re throwing a tantrum over picking up your own fucking children.”

“ _My_ children.” Minseok bites back and Chanyeol thinks he’s trying to hurt him. It works. “But not yours.”

Chanyeol takes a few steps towards the omega and Minseok retreats backwards until he’s caught between Chanyeol and the kitchen counter, “what is that supposed to mean?”

Minseok stares at him with wide eyes but doesn’t speak.

Chanyeol grabs his wrist to keep him in place when Minseok tries to move past him, “what are you talking about?”

“You love the baby more than you love the boys.” Minseok says and his tone is suddenly timid. “You’re not going to want them after the baby’s born.”

“What?” Chanyeol wants to laugh because Minseok is being ridiculous. Kyungsoo and Sehun are his in every way but blood and scent. “I love the boys. They’re my sons, of course I love and want them. That’s not going to change when the baby gets here.”

“All you talk about is the baby-.”

“I’m excited!” Chanyeol argues, unconsciously tightening his grip on Minseok’s wrist. “Am I not allowed to be excited about my daughter? Fuck, one of us needs to be. You act like you don’t even care about her.”

Minseok pales and he tries to pull himself free but Chanyeol just holds him tighter and makes a grab for his other wrist, determined to not let Minseok duck out of the argument he started.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Chanyeol asks and the anger’s back. “Tell me I’m right. You’re the one who wanted to try again and now we’re finally getting a baby you don’t even want her? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I wanted to make you happy!” Minseok shouts.

Chanyeol squeezes Minseok’s wrists and his heart stutters in his chest, “are you fucking kidding me? You- you don’t even want her, do you?”

“I want her.” Minseok tells him. “I want her more than you can know.”

“Then what?” Chanyeol gives him a little shake. “What is it, Minseok?”

Minseok doesn’t say anything and Chanyeol shakes him again, harder this time.

Minseok bites his bottom lip and if Chanyeol was in his right mind he’d see that Minseok is scared, “you’re going to leave us.”

Chanyeol feels like someone has dumped a bucket of cold water over his head, “what?”

“When the baby gets here you’re going to leave me and the boys because you’ve got what you wanted.”

Minseok’s words hurt and Chanyeol reacts the only way he can think to by trying to make Minseok hurt, too, “do you think I would have really stuck around with you if I was so desperate for a baby? Don’t you think I’d have found another omega years ago? Someone like Soojung who fucking _glowed_ when she was pregnant?”

“Then why didn’t you?” Minseok asks and Chanyeol doesn’t notice the tears in his eyes, too consumed by how much he’s hurting. “Why didn’t you go find a better omega? Someone stronger and healthier than I’ll ever be, one that could’ve given you everything you wanted on the first go?”

“Because I love you!”

“No, you don’t.” Minseok says, his head bowed. “You can’t.”

“Why not?” Chanyeol asks, suddenly desperate. “Tell me.”

Then Minseok explodes.

“Because I’m fucking pathetic! I’m so sick all the time and I can’t do anything without feeling like I want to throw up or pass out! I want to be perfect for you, I do, I want to be everything you could dream of. I want to be the perfect little omega bondmate that glows when you show them off instead of being the fat, ugly, weak fuck-up I am. I can’t even leave the house without exhausting myself! I’m pathetic. I’m so fucking pathetic. Why wouldn’t you want another omega?”

Chanyeol sees the tears then, feels the raw pain of Minseok’s emotions through their bond and he wonders how long this has been going on for.

He wonders how he could have been so blind.

He feels sick.

“You’re my bondmate and I love you. I chose you knowing full well we might never have a baby of our own. Do you think I’d have done that if I loved the idea of having a baby more than I loved you?” Chanyeol asks and he feels utterly miserable “You’re my world, Minseok. My life wouldn’t be worth living without you and the boys in it. Without our little girl now, too.”

“I’ve been so sick.” Minseok tells him. “I’ve been so sick these last few months and all you’ve talked about is the baby and how excited you are. You spend our nights together talking to the baby and every time you touch me it’s just so you can feel the baby move. When was the last time you kissed me? When was the last time you asked me how I’m feeling instead of how I think the baby is doing? I know you love her, Yeol, I know you do but I want you to love me, too. I’m not just a womb carrying your child. I’m still a person.”

“I know.” Chanyeol says and he suddenly realises just how tightly he’s squeezing Minseok’s wrists and he drops them immediately. Minseok rubs at them and Chanyeol feels sick with guilt at the red marks he’s left. “Oh, fuck. Have I hurt you? Oh, god, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. I love you. I love you so fucking much, Minseok.”

Chanyeol pulls him into a hug and Minseok fists his hands in Chanyeol’s t-shirt and sobs. Chanyeol rubs his back and lets tears of his own soak into Minseok’s hair, horrified by his own actions. He’s never- he loves Minseok. He can’t believe he’s hurt his bondmate, the one he’s sworn to love and keep safe, the one who has already been hurt so badly.

“You’re so strong, Minseok. You’re so strong and beautiful and I’m the biggest asshole in the world for making you think you’re anything less than perfect.” He presses frantic kisses into Minseok’s hair. “Of course, you’re perfect. You have to be to put up with an idiot like me. I don’t deserve you and everything you’re doing for me.”  

“It was my day in the office today.” Minseok gasps as his sobs start to die off.

Chanyeol’s heart stops, “what?”

“Joonmyun gave me a ride to work because I wasn’t feeling well after dropping the boys off at school. There was so much I needed to do and then you called even though you knew I was in the office today. I told you so many times but you sounded- I couldn’t say no. But then I had to rush my meeting with Joonmyun and get a cab home to pick up the car. I was running late because the traffic had been so bad coming out of the centre and I was the last parent at school to pick up their kids. The boys were so mad at me.” The words spill from Minseok’s lips and Chanyeol feels worse than dirt for everything he’s said. “Kyungsoo didn’t speak to me at all and he refused to eat the dinner I made and Sehun… Sehun threw a tantrum at bedtime because you weren’t here. He told me hates me and, and… I’m just so tired, Chanyeol. I’m so tired.”

Minseok starts to sob again but he’s obviously exhausted. Chanyeol holds him until he’s finished crying and then for a long while afterwards.

Eventually he speaks, “did you eat dinner?”

“I threw up in the sink.” Minseok mumbles.

Chanyeol frowns, “okay. How about you go lie down on the sofa and I’ll get us something to drink? We’ll order dinner in, whatever you want.”

“That sounds nice.” Minseok says, pulling back from Chanyeol’s chest so he can fix the alpha with a hesitant smile. “Can you get me some painkillers, too?”

“Have you got a headache?” Chanyeol asks and he feels at Minseok’s forehead. “You feel a bit warm. I hope you’re not coming down with anything.”

“I’m just tired.” Minseok tells him, his words running together in the way they always do when he’s exhausted.

Chanyeol fills the kettle while Minseok shuffles out of the room and flicks it on to boil. He’s just pulling mugs from the cupboard when he hears a crashing sound coming from the lounge. He drops the mugs on the counter and sprints into the lounge, his heart thundering in his chest.

“Minseok!”

The coffee table is askew and the forgotten glasses of juice from the boys’ breakfast are on the floor, their contents rapidly soaking into the carpet, and Chanyeol’s favourite coffee mug is in three pieces but it’s not- he doesn’t care about that.

Minseok is on his hands and knees and facing away from him so Chanyeol can’t see the look on his face. He lets out a quiet moan and sinks forwards so his face is pressing into the carpet.

“Oh, fuck, Minseok- are you okay?” Chanyeol crouches by his side and helps him up on to his knees. The omega has a bewildered look on his face, like he doesn’t really understand what’s happened, and his skin is a pasty white. Chanyeol immediately cups his face in his large hands and tilts it up so he can see Minseok’s eyes. They are glassy and unfocused. “What happened?”

Minseok blinks at him, “I don’t know. I felt dizzy and then I was on the floor.”

“I think you blacked out.” Chanyeol says. He kisses Minseok’s sweaty forehead, “are you hurting anywhere? Do you think you hit your stomach?”

“I don’t know.” Minseok tells him again and his bottom lip starts to wobble.

“Hey, don’t cry. It’s going to be okay.” Chanyeol promises. “It’s all going to be okay, you’ll see.”

 And it is.

Minseok is dehydrated from throwing up so much still despite just entering his eighth month of pregnancy and that, coupled with the exhaustion that has built up over the last couple of weeks, is the reason for him passing out. He stays in the hospital for a couple of days and lets Chanyeol fuss over him and the baby whenever he comes to visit.

The baby is fine. Minseok has an ultrasound and Chanyeol breathes a sigh of relief when he sees her on the screen and hears her heartbeat echo around the room. They’re told that she’s still on the small side but perfectly healthy nonetheless and Chanyeol doesn’t think he’s ever loved her more.

He doesn’t think he’s ever loved Minseok more.

The omega is put on bed rest when he’s released from the hospital and Chanyeol takes unpaid leave from work, determined to do everything he can to make up for the last couple of months. It’s not a decision that sits well with his manager, given how much he has going on at the moment with looming deadlines and projects in their infancy that he knows will fail without his input and ideas, but he does it anyway. They can survive without the money because his job has never been about how much he earns but what he enjoys. He works hard because he wants to and because he has ambition rather than for the money itself. He knows he’s going to be raked over the coals for it when he goes back to work but he knows it’ll be okay because he’s too good at what he does, is too popular with the senior management, to get fired. Not that it would matter financially because they have enough left over from the inheritance from his grandmother and his trust fund to live comfortably for years without either of them having to work.

But they both work because they want to. Minseok still gets antsy without something to keep him occupied, even after all these years, and he relishes the challenge that is Joonmyun and his hectic schedule. Chanyeol loves having something to throw himself into and to really excel at and he’s always been so desperate to be a good role model for Kyungsoo and Sehun. He wants them to see what they can accomplish through hard work. He wants them to be proud of him.

It isn’t an easy decision knowing all the danger he’s putting his career in but he takes the leave anyway. He wants to be with Minseok. He wants to make up for taking him and everything he’s going through for them, for their little girl, for granted.

Minseok indulges him at first. He leans into all of Chanyeol’s kisses and falls asleep wrapped up in Chanyeol’s arms both on the sofa and in bed. He drinks all the smoothies Chanyeol insists on making him and apologises for all the ones he throws up. He lets Chanyeol fuss over him and relents when Chanyeol wants to do something for him, even if they both know he’s perfectly capable of doing it himself.

It starts to wear after a week and Chanyeol comes to realise that Minseok had never wanted or expected the world from him, just the comfort of knowing Chanyeol still loves him and the boys the same as he always had.

Chanyeol spends more time with the boys now that he isn’t working and it helps ease some of the tension in the house. He has the time to give them the attention they need and deserve and he regrets not having done this earlier.

Sehun is the happiest of the two. He trails Chanyeol around the house, almost as if he’s worried that Chanyeol will disappear if he doesn’t keep an eye on him, and he plies both him and Minseok with kisses and cuddles. He rubs the baby bump and his whole face lights up when he feels movement from within, looking at Minseok in disbelief. He asks sweet questions about the baby and it’s obvious that he’s excited to meet his little sister.

“What do you think her favourite colour is going to be?” Sehun asks one night when he and Minseok are curled up together on the sofa. Chanyeol is just setting down drinks on the coffee table for them and he can’t help but smile at his son’s question.

“I’m not sure, baby.” Minseok answers. “She could like any colour.”

“Then why are all her clothes pink if you don’t know that it’s her favourite colour?” Sehun frowns.

“Why are all the baby’s clothes pink, papa?” Minseok asks him, a mischievous look in his tired eyes.

“They’re not all pink.” Chanyeol says as he sinks back onto the sofa and pulls a pouting Kyungsoo onto his lap. “Some of them are lilac.”

“What if she doesn’t like pink?” Sehun asks. “What if she hates it?”

“She can tell us when she learns to talk if she doesn’t like it.” Chanyeol shrugs. “But that won’t be for a long time yet.”

Sehun pushes himself upright, “why did you buy her so many pink clothes then, papa? If you didn’t- if you don’t know?”

“I bought them because they’re cute not because they’re pink.” Chanyeol admits and he can feel himself blush.

“I think daddy should choose the baby’s clothes.” Sehun tells him, his young face uncharacteristically serious. “The baby is in his tummy so he knows what she wants. That’s why he’s so sick all the time because the baby doesn’t like the food he’s eating.”

“Is that why?” Minseok asks, mildly, and Chanyeol tries not to smile. “I’m going to have to have a long talk with your sister once she’s born.”

“Are you going to give her way?” Kyungsoo pipes up, suddenly interested in their conversation. “For being naughty?”

Chanyeol laughs, “of course not.”

But that turns out to be the wrong thing to say because Kyungsoo immediately wriggles free from his lap and stomps from the room.

“He doesn’t like the baby.” Sehun tells them unnecessarily once Kyungsoo is gone. “He doesn’t want her to be born.”

Chanyeol frowns and he can see the concern on Minseok’s face but it isn’t until the week after that he thinks he starts to understand.

Minseok is in bed trying to sleep after another uncomfortable night with his thirty-five-week pregnant belly getting in the way of any real rest and Sehun is curled around Chanyeol’s feet under the dining table, napping while the music from the game he’d been playing on the family iPad continues to blare. Chanyeol is on his laptop but he shuts it immediately when Kyungsoo hesitantly sits in the chair next to his.

This is the first time Kyungsoo has sought him out in weeks.

“Do you want to talk?” Chanyeol asks when it becomes clear that Kyungsoo isn’t going to speak.

Kyungsoo nods and bites his lip.

“Okay.” Chanyeol says. “I’m listening, Soo.”

“The baby…” Kyungsoo starts and his eyes are wet. “She’s going to smell different, isn’t she?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widen just a fraction, “what do you mean?”

“She’s going to smell like you and daddy.”

“You and Sehun smell like me and daddy.” Chanyeol keeps his voice soft as his heart races.

Kyungsoo pauses, chews on his bottom lip, and Chanyeol knows what he’s going to say before the words leave his lips.

“You’re not really our papa, are you?”

Chanyeol doesn’t know what to say.

“Some of the older kids at school said you’re not our papa because we don’t smell enough like you. They said that daddy is a whore omega because you’re not the alpha that made me and Sehun.” The way that Kyungsoo speaks makes it obvious that he’s parroting some of the words he’s heard without truly understanding what they mean. Still, he’s earnest when he looks Chanyeol in the eye. “Is it true?”

“I am your papa and I love you and your brother so, so much.” Chanyeol tells him and he puts as much of that love into his words as he can. “Nothing is ever going to change that, okay?”

Kyungsoo’s bottom lip wobbles.

Chanyeol takes a deep breath, knows he can’t lie to Kyungsoo about this, “but it was somebody else that made you and Sehun.”

Kyungsoo faces crumples and Chanyeol realises that he had been hoping that the other kids had been wrong.

“I’m still your papa, though, Soo.” Chanyeol rushes to reassure him. “I’m still your papa and you’re my son and it’s always going to be like that. You’re my precious little boy and I love you.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t struggle when Chanyeol pulls him onto his lap and rocks him gently.

“Are you going to make us leave when the baby gets here?” Kyungsoo asks and he’s sobbing now.

“No.” Chanyeol tells him firmly. “We’re a family – me and you and Sehun and daddy and the baby, too, when she gets here – and we’re always going to be a family. We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives. You’re going to grow up big and strong and I’ll be your papa then like I’m your papa now. Even when you get old and think that you don’t need me anymore or that I’m too embarrassing to be seen with in public, I’m going to be the same papa who has always loved you.”

“Do you promise?” Kyungsoo gasps between sobs and he wipes tears and snot on the front of Chanyeol’s t-shirt.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” Chanyeol says without any kind of hesitation. “I promise that I’ll be your papa and love you with my whole heart for as long as I live.”

It’s enough to soothe Kyungsoo for the moment but the next few days are tense. Kyungsoo is cold towards Minseok and the omega has a long talk with him that Chanyeol isn’t party to and he finds himself comforting the both of them in its aftermath, Kyungsoo directly afterwards and Minseok that night as they lay together in bed.

Chanyeol takes the boys out for ice cream the day after Minseok and Kyungsoo’s talk. The omega walks them to the front door, a slight frown marring his face as he rubs at his bump, and he kisses the three of them before they climb into the car. Chanyeol and the boys wave at him as they pull out of the drive and the bond in Chanyeol’s chest flares brightly.

They head to their favourite ice cream place and Chanyeol surprises the boys when he gets back to their booth with two scoops of their favourite flavours instead of the usual one. Naturally, they get it everywhere and Chanyeol makes sure to take loads of photos and he sends his favourites to Minseok.

“Do you like this photo?” Chanyeol asks the boys, showing them the photo on his phone.

“Kyungsoo looks silly.” Sehun tries and fails to hide a giggle.

Kyungsoo scowls, “not as silly as you! You have chocolate sauce on your nose!”

“You both look silly.” Chanyeol says before it can turn into an argument. “But papa thinks it’s cute.”

He sets the photo as his background but Kyungsoo is less than impressed by this so Chanyeol takes what feels to be a hundred more while the boys pose for him. They squabble over which photo they like best and which one they want Chanyeol to use for his phone background. Sehun is the fussiest but also the one who pulls the most faces and Chanyeol has to try to explain to him that he can’t make faces at the camera and expect to look good in the photos.

Their ice cream melts in the time it takes to take the perfect photo, resembling soup more than ice cream, and Chanyeol is pleased with himself for buying cups instead of cones. Sehun makes a show of eating his ‘soup’ with his spoon while Kyungsoo turns his nose up at him and complains about the ice cream melting too quickly for him to eat.

Chanyeol is just about to give in and buy fresh ice cream when his phone starts to ring. He sees it’s Minseok and feels guilty for entertaining the thought, knowing more ice cream would just lead to two very hyperactive little boys causing havoc for the rest of the day.

“Are you psychic?” Chanyeol asks instead of saying hello.

“Why?” There’s suspicion in Minseok’s voice that doesn’t quite disguise the tension that’s also there. “Are you thinking about doing something you shouldn’t?”

“Maybe.” Chanyeol answers evasively. He changes the subject before Minseok can pry. “Have you decided what flavour you want me to bring a carton home of?”

“Yes.” Minseok says and then Chanyeol thinks he hears a hiss of pain. “Caramel brownie. And blueberry cheesecake, too.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol nods, a fond smile tugging at his lips. “Anything else?”

“Banana and walnut chunk.”

“Are you going to actually eat any of this?” Chanyeol asks.

“Of course.” Minseok sounds affronted before relenting with a long sigh, “maybe not today but I will eat it.”

Chanyeol laughs, “right, so, caramel brownie, strawberry cheesecake and banana and walnut chunk. Is that everything?”

“No.” Minseok says and he sounds suddenly breathless. He is blindsided by the omega’s next words. “I think the baby might be on her way.”

“What?”

 “I’m having contractions, Yeol, and I think my water’s broken.”

“You think?!”

“No, I’m certain.” Minseok tells him. “Just come home, okay? I’ll call around and see who’s free to watch the boys.”

 “Okay.” Chanyeol says and he can feel the panic rise in his chest. “Okay. I’m coming, just hold on, okay, Min? Hold on, I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” Minseok tells him. “Be careful on the way home, okay? The contractions are still spaced out, I’m not going to need to go to the hospital before you can get here.”

“But she’s early!”

“Only a little bit.” Minseok says and Chanyeol distantly wonders if Minseok is really as calm as he’s pretending to be. “She’ll be okay. Just come home.”

“We won’t be long.” Chanyeol promises.

“Wait- Chanyeol!” Minseok’s voice is suddenly serious.

Chanyeol’s heart drops, “what?”

“If you forget my ice cream...”

Chanyeol gulps.

Baekhyun is already at the house when he and the boys get home. The twins throw themselves at him and Baekhyun pretends their weight is enough to knock him from his feet, dragging Kyungsoo and Sehun onto the floor with him and tickling them mercilessly.

Chanyeol sidesteps them and immediately makes his way over to Minseok.

The omega is rubbing his large belly and Chanyeol knows by his furrowed brow that he’s hurting more than he’s let on.

“Are you okay?”

Minseok nods, “I’m fine. Just… I think we need to go to the hospital now.”

“Now?”

“Now, ple-.” Minseok cuts himself off with a pained groan.

“Okay.” Chanyeol says and he feels panic fluttering his chest. “Okay. What do I do? What do you need?”

“My bag is in the bedroom, you need to go get it.” Minseok tells him and he bites his bottom lip and clutches at his stomach.

“Was that another one?” Chanyeol asks because they contractions are coming a lot quicker together than he thought they would. “Oh my god, Minseok! We need to go now!”

“Go get my bag.” Minseok’s voice doesn’t leave any room for argument and Chanyeol takes the stairs two at a time on the way up to their room.

He’s panting when he arrives back in the hallway, Minseok’s duffle bag in one hand and the bag of ice cream he doesn’t realise he’s still carrying in the other.

“Are you ready to go now?” He asks.

Sehun is clinging to Minseok’s trousers, tears in his eyes, while the omega does his best to comfort him without letting him see the true extent of his pain. Chanyeol wants to scoop his son up and hug him and kiss him and tell him everything’s going to be okay, that it’s just the baby telling daddy that she’s ready to meet them all at last.

But he doesn’t.

Neither his brain or his body seem to be working properly, no train of thought able to be heard over the loud klaxon blaring in his brain telling him that the baby is coming- _the baby is coming!_

“No.” Minseok says between clenched teeth as another contraction hits. “The ice cream needs to go in the freezer.”

“Baekhyun-.”

“Now, Chanyeol.”

It takes Chanyeol far too long to make room for the ice cream and actually cram it into the freezer and when he’s done Minseok’s cheeks are red and there’s sweat beading on his forehead.

Both the twins are crying now, Kyungsoo the hardest of the two, and it takes lots of kisses and words of reassurance to convince them to let Minseok go. Baekhyun makes desperate promises of all the chocolate they can eat and all the games they can play to try and stop their tears and they are almost smiling when Minseok and Chanyeol kiss them goodbye.

“It’s all happening quicker than I thought it would.” Minseok admits once they’re halfway to the hospital. “They’re going to have to take me through as soon as we get there.”

“Fuck.” Chanyeol says because the bodies of male omegas are not built for birth in the same way that female omegas are. Thousands of years of evolution have robbed them of that ability, leaving behind a birth canal barely large enough for the fluids associated with pregnancy to pass through with no hope of birthing a baby naturally. “Are you going to make it?”

Minseok looks scared, “I think so.”

Their daughter is born an hour later.

She weighs 4lbs 10ozs, has ten tiny toes and ten tiny fingers and Chanyeol doesn’t think he’s ever seen anything so perfect.

She is taken to the neonatal unit for monitoring and Chanyeol spends hours by her incubator just watching her breathe and he takes whatever opportunity he can to hold her and feed her from the bottles prepared by the nurses.

She’s doing well considering she’s so small and he’s told that it’ll only be a couple of days before she can go home. He can’t wait.

Their friends come to visit her and they all coo over how beautiful she is, how small and cute and Chanyeol can’t help the pride that swells in his chest because she’s his little girl. His baby.

Finally.

_Finally._

Minseok doesn’t get to see her until the day after she’s born, the anaesthetic taking too long to wear off and leaving him groggy and sick and confused, but Chanyeol makes sure he’s the one who rolls his wheelchair into the neonatal unit as soon as he’s allowed to.

Minseok cries when he sees her. Loud, ugly sobs that shake his whole body and leave Chanyeol scared and uncertain.

“What’s wrong?” He asks. He crouches by Minseok’s side and presses desperate kisses into the warm skin of his cheek and neck. “She’s okay, Min. She’s okay.”

“We did it.” Minseok sobs. “After everything- she’s _here_. Chanyeol, oh god, we did it and she’s okay. I don’t- I can’t-.”

Chanyeol smiles and their bond sings with all the love he feels for the omega, “no, _you_ did it, Minseok. You did it and I love you so much. I love you.”

Minseok gets released from the hospital the next day, the baby a couple of days after that and the next few weeks pass in a blur of sleepless nights, dirty diapers and so much _love_.

Sehun adores his little sister and he insists on giving her kisses and stroking her head whenever he sees her. He asks about her on the ride home from school and Chanyeol hears him boasting about her to anyone who will listen. Of course, there are times when he gets jealous and he throws tantrums but they don’t happen as often as Chanyeol expects them to. Sehun just seems happy that they’re all together and that he still gets to spend a lot of time with his parents despite the baby. Chanyeol and Minseok make sure to involve him in as much as they can and Sehun seems to love the responsibility. He helps Minseok pick out her clothes on a morning, chooses what colour bottle she’s going to have her milk from and cuddles with her on the sofa every evening before her bath and bottle.

Kyungsoo isn’t quite as enamoured with his little sister but he’s happier about her than Chanyeol thought he would be. He likes to run his fingers through her downy soft hair and sing with Chanyeol and Minseok when they are trying to get her to sleep. He isn’t as angry as he was before she was born and Chanyeol thinks it’s the reassurance that both he and Minseok love him just as much as before, still have time to spend with just him doing special things only he likes, and that neither of them are going to leave him.

The weekend before Chanyeol is due to go back to work, he and Minseok get the Saturday night just to themselves. The twins are on a small weekend away with Jongdae, Yixing, Baekhyun and Luhan and Yifan and Zitao watch the baby so that they can try and catch up on some sleep.

Chanyeol plans a dinner out and a movie but both of them are so tired that they end up going no farther than the sofa, cuddling together under a heap of blankets and sharing a carton of ice cream. They watch a movie but Minseok falls asleep halfway through and Chanyeol spends the rest of it just looking at his bondmate’s face and thinking just how lucky he is to have him.

They go to bed early and start with sleepy kisses that get deeper and sloppier as the minutes slip by.

“I love you.” Chanyeol whispers between breaths. “I love you, Minseok.”

He kisses down the omega’s jawline and then down his neck. He sucks and licks and worships the smooth skin of Minseok’s chest and every minute his lips are not on Minseok he tells him how much he loves him, how grateful and thankful he is for everything he’s done for them, for their family.

Minseok moans and writhes under Chanyeol’s touch and his finger tangle messily in his hair. His hips jerk when Chanyeol’s tongue makes contact with his erection and Chanyeol can’t help but smirk.

“It’s not- not _you_.” Minseok gasps out as Chanyeol sucks at the head of his cock. “It’s just been… It’s been a long time.”

“I’ll look after you.” Chanyeol promises, pulling off Minseok’s dick with a wet sound _pop_ , and he hopes his bondmate knows he means for the rest of their lives and not just for the night. “I love you, Minseok.”

“I know, I know and I love you, too.” Minseok moans as Chanyeol breathes against his overheated skin. “Just- fuck me, Yeol. Please, I want to feel you.”

There’s lube in the top drawer of Chanyeol’s beside cabinet and he’s generous with it when he coats his fingers. He uses even more on Minseok’s entrance because it’s been months since they’ve done anything and Chanyeol is so big.

He takes his time stretching Minseok open and marvels at the way the omega squirms and gasps. His cheeks are flushed the prettiest shade of red and Chanyeol feels his heart swell because he’s lucky enough for Minseok to love him just as fiercely as he is loved by Chanyeol. That Minseok would put himself through so much stress and pain to keeping on trying for a baby because he knows how desperately Chanyeol had wanted one, that’d he’d suffer through months of sickness and misery to bring their daughter into the world… He feels _blessed_.

“Thank you.” He breathes into the omega’s ear, enjoying the shiver that runs down his spine, and he sinks _slowly, slowly_ into Minseok’s heat. “Thank you, I love you.”

He waits until Minseok tells him it’s okay before he starts moving again. He keeps his thrusts slow and deep and Minseok kisses him between their desperate gasps for breath, his arms wrapped around Chanyeol’s neck and his legs trying to pull his alpha closer with every stroke.

Chanyeol rubs his thumb over the head of Minseok’s cock when he feels the familiar heat pool in his belly, telling him he’s nearly there, and he lets out a loud moan as Minseok clenches around him.

“Faster.” The omega urges him.

Chanyeol quickens his pace and pumps at Minseok’s length, lips leaving sloppy kisses on every inch of skin they find, and it isn’t long before Minseok comes with a shout.

Minseok’s orgasm pushes Chanyeol over the edge but he doesn’t stop moving until he’s finished coming deep inside the omega. Only then does he let himself slump down onto the warm body beneath him and they spend minutes tangled together trying to catch their breath until Minseok starts to shift and complain about how heavy Chanyeol is.

Minseok lets out a little huff of air when Chanyeol pulls out and Chanyeol plants a quick kiss on the tip of his nose to placate him, not bothering to hide his grin.

“Why did we wait so long?” Minseok asks.

“Because you threatened violence any time I hinted at sex while you were pregnant.” Chanyeol jokes, running his hands through Minseok’s sweaty hair. “And we’ve both been too tired to do anything but sleep since the baby arrived.”

“I forgot how exhausting newborns are.” Minseok murmurs.

Chanyeol kisses the corner of his mouth, “how you managed with Kyungsoo and Sehun all by yourself I’ll never know.”

Minseok gives him a tired smile that says words ever could.

Chanyeol doesn’t push the conversation and instead makes quick work of cleaning them both up. They curl together, Minseok flush against Chanyeol’s chest, and they fall into what is their last night of uninterrupted sleep in months.

Chanyeol finds the return to work difficult.

He loves his job, he loves the challenge and all the opportunities it brings, but he struggles with all of the the hours it forces him to be away from his family. There’s so much for him to catch up on, so many projects that have all but fallen apart in his absence, and he ends up spending long days cooped up in the office trying to put everything together again. It’s hard on him and the whole family and Chanyeol feels guilty for always coming home after the baby is already asleep, for the tears that Sehun cries when he’s not there and for the tantrums Kyungsoo throws because he’s hurting and he’s scared that Chanyeol doesn’t love him anymore.

Chanyeol tries his best to get home earlier but it’s almost like his manager is trying to punish him for his absence over the last couple of months because there always seems to be a last minute piece of work he needs to stay late to complete or a deadline that simply can’t be missed and just doesn’t know what to do to fix it.

Minseok knows how hard he’s trying but it doesn’t stop them from fighting because, between the baby and the twins and Chanyeol’s job, they’re both just so exhausted that they don’t have the energy to keep a lid on their tempers.

Weeks pass and Chanyeol feels worry bubble in his chest because Minseok starts to look haggard and unwell but promises he’s fine whenever Chanyeol asks. They’re closer to breaking point than Chanyeol thinks they ever have been and he’s scared it’s all going to fall apart if he pushes too hard or if he says the wrong thing. It doesn’t stop them from fighting but it does stop him from trying to work out what is really wrong.  

He doesn’t find out what it is until he comes across Minseok slumped in front of the toilet with vomit on his chin and tears on his cheeks one Tuesday morning just before he leaves for work, already fifteen minutes late.

“You’re pregnant.” Chanyeol says.

Minseok wipes the sick from his chin and flushes the toilet before sighing, “I’m pregnant.”

He doesn’t meet Chanyeol’s eyes.

“That’s good- that’s great.” Chanyeol tells him, his words stiff with shock, and he drops onto his knees in front of his bondmate, smooths away the hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. “We’re going to have another baby, Minseok.”

But Minseok just buries his head in his hands and Chanyeol thinks he’s trying his hardest to keep from crying, “you’re mad.”

“What? No, I’m not mad. Why would I be mad?”

“Because we can barely look after the baby we have now.” Minseok tells him, his voice thick. “We fight so much and we’re both so tired- I just feel like everything’s falling apart. How are we going to… How can we even think about having another baby?”

Chanyeol pulls him into a hug and Minseok collapses into the warmth of his chest, neither of them caring about the tears he smears over Chanyeol’s white shirt, and he can feel the tremors wracking the smaller’s body.

“We’ll make it work.” Chanyeol promises. “It’s going to be hard and we’re going to fight and fall out but it’ll be okay because we have our bond to remind us of how perfect we are for each other. We’ll be okay because we have three beautiful children and still have enough love in our hearts for another.”

Minseok lets out a shaky breath, “yeah?”

“Yeah.” Chanyeol kisses the top of his head. “Of course.”

Minseok looks at him then and Chanyeol does all that he can to smother the doubt his feels blooming in his chest.

“We can do this.” He says and he tells himself it’s true.

**Author's Note:**

> I have the plot for the third story in the arc planned out. I just kind of need to write it. Please let me know what you think.


End file.
